


Children of the Barricade (Who Didn't Last Night)

by storybored



Series: Children of the Barricade [2]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Funeral, Gen, Joker kills Jason, crowbar mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-04 22:37:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11564766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storybored/pseuds/storybored
Summary: How exactly did Jason die in the Wayward Ones? A reimagining on how Jason died.





	Children of the Barricade (Who Didn't Last Night)

Dick should have known not to clear Jason for the mission, he hadn't fully coped with what happened to Garzonas. He seemed to be getting short with everyone and Dick found him smoking a lot more, sitting away from the group and neglecting himself. When Jason got into one of these moods a mission would help break him out of it because it forced him to see that he was an integral part of the team even when he didn’t want to see it himself.

They got the wrong information. The Joker still should have been in Arkham and he wasn’t ever really seen outside of Gotham, much less the country. Dick should have planned for a contingency like this, just in case, Bruce would have. Kaldur would have. But Dick didn’t recheck the information and now they were surrounded. Jason bolted through the gap after the Joker saying that they couldn’t lose him now. They were so close to locking him back up again, he bolted off before anyone could grab him, Batman left to chase after him as soon as possible on his motorbike not knowing he'd already be too late.

Bruce ordered them back to Mount Justice to wait for him and Jason, Dick complied knowing that he was probably in hot water already, but he waited in the mission room pacing, glancing at the zeta tubes. The team stopped trying to get Dick to settle down and we're trying to rest while worried about the second Robin, the toddler on the team if Gar was the baby.

Maybe it was the fact that Artemis knew the most about his past besides Barbara who read his file and maybe that was why he let them call him baby bird and kid. Maybe it was the fact that Dick was the youngest and only Flying Grayson left that made him want to be a big brother to Jason and want him to have a childhood. He remembers the day Jason mentioned that he didn't have a real childhood.

_They weren't in uniform for once, Jason was quiet and he was shivering, the storm was sudden and soaked through all their clothes. Dick put an arm around him as he continued to shake,” You okay, Jason?”_

_“It’s cold.” Jason said clenching his hands, looking at his fingers making sure there was enough blood flow,” Reminds me of growing up. We didn’t have enough money to do anything besides pay for necessities. And even then we didn’t have enough money. Willis would gamble whatever mom would bring home and mom had a drug addiction. So it was cold and wet most days.”_

_Dick rubbed Jason’s arm trying to get some blood flowing, as his brother pressed his form close to the human furnace, Garfield spoke as one of the only people on the team that had a normal surface world childhood,” So what’d you do for fun?”_

_Jason looked up his blue-green eyes full of disbelief,” What? You mean beside hide from my dad when he was in a mood? Mom would take me to the library, have me read to her. It was warm and free and he wouldn’t come after us.”_

_Dick squeezed Jason protectively, and rested his chin on top of Jason’s but Jason continued speaking,” Willis left and I can’t imagine what my mom felt imagine that bastard telling you weren’t good enough, so she got into heroin and less money became no money and I was too busy taking care of her to go to school and be a kid. Then mom died so I got busy trying to do the bare minimum to survive, Then B’s training and trying to make myself essential to B and everyone meant I really didn’t get to be a kid anymore. SO I did a childhood, it was fine.……. Why are you looking at me like that?”_

_Wally and Gar were staring at him horrified, while Barb, Dick and Artemis had heard it before, Wally spoke,”That’s not a childhood dude. There are adults who’ve had lives less difficult than you.”_

_Jason glared at him defensively,”You ever been in Crime Alley? My childhood could be considered normal.”_

_Dick sent Wally a pleading look to not push him as Jason fell silent look out the window, trying not to feel as of the table was judging how he grew up._

Diana entered the mission room and tried to herd the team away from the zeta tubes, after several hours. He pulled against Kaldur and Superboy when he saw Batman walking carrying a bundle in his removed cape seemingly supported by Superman. Dick struggled against Kaldur twisting out of the Atlantean's grip. He ran up to Bruce apprehensive of the bundle, Jason could be alive, he could just be unconscious. He’s probably not even hurt that bad.

Dick knew he was lying to himself the second he got with an arm’s reach of the bundle. His cowl didn’t pick up any life signs and Dick reached out for the bundle. Bruce reluctantly handed it over and Dick shifted the cape just enough to see the cuts and “fresh” bruises on his brother’s face, the torn cowl that would show lifeless teal eyes. HIs baby brother felt like a broken doll, bones displaced and not in the right place. Broken physically, in every sense of the word.

Dick sank to his knees, cradling his little brother. His _dead_ little brother. He wailed and sobbed into Jason’s cold body, not caring about the blood. He felt like his heart would be torn in two again, and he didn’t have to look up to know that Bruce was barely holding it together. Dick rocked himself back and forth, wanting to take past the past 2 days.

Dick faintly heard heels on the stone floor, and looked up seeing Selina walk in through the zeta tube and her green eyes met his anguished blue eyes as he looked back down and clutched Jason tighter. He thought Selina ran bolted toward them with a heartbroken cry. Bruce grabbed her before she reached Jason, he sunk to the floor as Selina sobbed into his chest. Bruce let himself breakdown slightly, tears coming from underneath the cowl.

“Oh Jay, Jason. Jay, Little Wing. I’m so sorry.” Dick whispered as Clark put a hand on his shoulder which he shrugged off.

If Dick looked around the room he’d see Diana’s lower lip trembling as she tried to remain stoic for the team. He’d see Garth, Tula, and Kaldur holding each other whispering comforting words in Atlantean. He’d see Artemis and Wally clutching each other tightly both of them crying into each others shoulders. He’d see Superboy holding M’gann and Gar as he tried to remain strong but his eyes were shining and M’gann was crying as she felt everyone’s thoughts of anguish. Gar was crying as he lost a person who knew what it was like to find your mom dead, and who was helping train him in ways he was comfortable. Someone who wouldn’t judge him for the nightmares that plagued him. Zatanna thought back to losing her father to Nabu and then thought of a small skittish kid who empathetic and angry and just wanted to help people, She remembers the first line he ever said to her besides ‘Hi.’

_Jason was slumped over one of the desks in the library, working on some gadgets to show Lucius as Zatanna walked up behind him, he barely registered her presence, ”Fuck you, being Robin gives me magic.”_

_Zatanna laughed lightly,” I’m sure it does.”_

_Jason whipped around with his Domino masked discarded, and that was when Zatanna noticed he had pretty eyes. Dick’s where a deep happy blue, like the cloudless sky or a calm ocean. Jason’s eyes were blue on the outside with green surrounding his pupils and pained, bringing to mind a misused algae colored river. Jason’s eyes shot downward and his cheeks flamed slightly,” I thought you were Bats.”_

_Zatanna sat next to him,” Bad day?”_

_Jason shrugged,” Just normal for him. He’s pisssed about something I did and I don’t know what I did wrong.”_

_Zatanna held out her hand as Jason plastered his Domino mask back onto his face,” Doesn’t matter. It’s B, he’s always brooding. Come on time for dinner.”_

_Jason took her hand and bumped shoulders with her, an almost smiling coming across his face._

Raquel leaned against Zatanna as she muffled her sobs of shock, Jason wasn’t a very active Robin but he was determined. She kept expecting  him to twitch or cough, make some sort of sigh that he was still alive, but just out of commission for a couple of months.

Batman let go of Selina as she stopped sobbing and sat there slightly catatonic. Clark rolled a stretcher toward Bruce which he took and whispered something to Dick, who made a pained noise as he shook his head. Bruce whispered something more urgently causing Dick to struggle to stand up without jostling the body in his arms. Dick laid Jason out on the stretcher allowing everyone to see what he looked like, his ribs caving in on him, his right arm looking disjointed. Skin pale from blood loss, and his lips stained blue from suffocation. The lack of color in his skin made the visible bruises on his body looked so much more vibrant as well with the blood and lacerations from where the crowbar snagged and split flesh.

The team let out a group of horrified gasps as Dick watched his brother rolled away by Clark, rolled to the Batcave. Selina was lifted up by Bruce and followed as Dick was left staring off into the middle distance after them. Wally and Artemis wrapped an arm Dick and led him to the Batcave, he stopped Wailing and sobbing but was standing there catatonic.

Wally had Dick sit down in the hospital bed across from Jason’s body as Bruce began to prep for a coffin delivery to Leslie’s and had a hospital prepare an autopsy, Bruce need to know how late how was, just how badly he failed Jason.

Dick looked up at the word autopsy and mouthed it, Wally noticed this and squeezed his hand as Alfred tried not to look at the body, he settled on asking Wally, Artemis and Dick if they were injured, the question had to be repeated multiple times for Dick to get a slow headshake. Clark helped Bruce with dealing with Jason’s body and Dick stood up and walked to where Selina was standing a look of barely contained anger and horror written across her face.

Dick hugged Selina and the two of them began to head out of the Batcave followed by Alfred Wally and Artemis. Selina went to the master bedroom and sat as Wally and Artemis disappeared so Alfred and Dick could talk.

Dick looked at Alfred apologetically,” Alfred, I’m so sorry. I, I should have stopped him.”

Alfred’s voice was close to breaking,” Master Dick, no one could be capable of swaying Master Jason on something he set his mind to.”

“I was mission leader I should have stopped him or gone after him.” Dick said knowing if he was faster he could have gone after Jason saving him.

Alfred looked at the boy whose guilt would eat him alive,” Or you could have gotten yourself killed. Jason never would have forgiven himself if he got you killed.”

“But then he wouldn’t have had to die alone.” Dick mumbled.

Alfred squeezed his shoulder,” But then we would have been mourning two young masters instead of just one.”

Dick smiled at Alfred softly,” You always know what to say, Alfred.”

The butler trembled slightly as Dick hugged him tight allowing Alfred to break down and begin to process Jason’s death something Dick hadn’t started with yet himself.

**_(Line break)_ **

The funeral was small, like Jason would have wanted, or so Dick thought. Jason liked being in control of what attention people gave him leading him to lash out at seemingly random times.

The team was there and so was his the commissioner with Barbara who hadn’t stopped looking pale and shocked since Dick broke the news to her, Paula, Artemis’s mother, who Jason would visit when the manor got to be too much.

Dick didn’t have to glance back to see the press swarming outside the gates, but looked up when he heard a shutter go off. Wally squeezed his shoulder comforting, causing Dick to give him a pained smile.

There was going to be a memorial in the Grotto back at Mount Justice and they were going to tell stories about Jason as Robin. Dick knew from personal experience, there was a lot more of you in Robin then most people realized, and vice versa, especially when the new Robin wasn’t a Flying Grayson, he was a street kid who figured out how to do half as much work and deal twice as much damage.

Dick had been staring at the coffin in a fugue state, a state he’d been in for the past two weeks. He hadn’t put his uniform back on and hadn’t cleaned it so the last thing he’d see at Night would be the bloody uniform, reminding Dick of the price their life, others’ lives ended before they should be, by monsters such as the Joker. Dick felt his hand clench up and he felt ashamed at this anger and guilt, he wanted to kill Joker but it went against everything he was taught for the past 7 years, Bats don’t kill because it’d be too damn easy to never stop and that’s not what heroes do.

The priest finished speaking and looked at the Wayne family,” Do you have anything to say?”

Dick looked at the ground and everyone was silent so he spoke,” You realize if he was here he’d of made some shitty joke or something about his own mortality. Something like, like, ‘I guess he wasn’t clowning around.”

There were groans throughout the small group and scattered watery chuckles as Wally shoved him lightly,” I’m gonna kill you, Dick.”

Dick snickered and watched as they lowered Jason into the ground sobering the mood immediately. He watched as Bruce and Selina threw handfuls of dirt onto the coffin and copy them following them back to the town car. The press began to prepare to swarm them and Dick watched as Bruce pulled Selina closer pretending to comfort her, but Dick saw the tenseness in her back and knew that Bruce pulling her close was to prevent her from going off on the press. The team began to head back to their cars ignoring the press as Alfred, Bruce, Selina and Bruce slid into the town car and drove to Wayne Manor

**_(Line break)_ **

The team met up weeks later when the Grotto was finished turning into a memorial, they gathered in front of the hologram of Jason, hair a little too long but contained for once, a slight scowl on his face.

Dick could almost hear Jason’s playful judgement, _” Wow, they really went all out. Do I actually look like that much of an asshole when I wear my hair like that?”_

Dick smiled softly as Gar decided to speak first,” Jason was really nice to me after my mom died, for my birthday he stole the batmobile and took me joy riding in it.”

Laughter went through the crowd as they remembered that day the batmobile roaring into the garage and Robin and Beast boy came out both looking like the cat that ate the canary.

Selina spoke up next,” Jason didn’t like attention all that much, preferring to give it and he was stubborn and determined. Willing to complete anything for a friend or someone in need despite what it would cost him.”

Bruce spoke his voice very un-Batman like,” Jason swore that these past two years were the best of his life. Being a part of this team taught him lessons that his childhood, that only being Robin couldn’t give him.”

Artemis spoke next, “Jason understood that because of who I was friends with in my civilian life that life would get hard, and when it did we would find a cheap diner and eat there. Decompress from everything that went on in our lives.”

The group continued to share stories about the young vigilante that was far too young and far too stubborn for his own good.


End file.
